Critical Explanation in Social Science: A Logics Approach

Abstract

Debates in the philosophy of social science often pit lawlike against ideographic approaches to explanation, whilst dividing objective, value-free approaches from critical and engaged stances. Others foreground causal mechanisms as a unit of explanation, though they are equally split about the role of values and normativity. This article engages with these perspectives by elaborating a logics-based approach to critical explanation. By articulating the idea of social, political and fantasmatic logics, the approach emphasizes contextual particularity, yet also aspires to be explanatory and critical. It shows the added value of such an approach by investigating recent changes in the UK higher education regime.